AFP Retirement and Separation Decree 1979

Coverage, Who Is Included

Section 2 provides that the decree applies to all military personnel in the service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Title III governs retirement, and Title IV governs separation for covered military personnel.

Definition of Active Service

Section 3 defines “active service” as active service rendered as a commissioned officer, enlisted man, cadet, probationary officer, trainee or draftee in the AFP.
Section 3 also includes service rendered as a civilian official or employee in the Philippine Government prior to the person’s separation or retirement from the AFP, for which military and/or civilian service pay was received from the Philippine Government and/or such others as may be prescribed by law.
Section 3 requires at least ten (10) years of active service as an officer or enlisted man in the AFP for purposes of retirement.
Section 3 bars crediting any period of civilian government service that is longer than the active military service.
Section 3 allows service as a cadet, probationary officer, trainee or draftee to be credited for retirement at the option of the officer or enlisted man concerned, subject to rules the Minister of National Defense prescribes.

Retirement: When It Occurs

Section 4 allows an officer or enlisted man with at least twenty (20) years of accumulated satisfactory active service to be retired at his own request, with approval of the President.
Section 5(a) mandates compulsory retirement upon either:
- attaining sixty (60) years of age with at least fifteen (15) years of active service, or
- accumulating thirty (30) years of satisfactory active service,
- whichever is earlier,
- unless the President determines continued service is required for the good of the service.
Section 5(a) defers compulsory retirement of an officer serving in a statutory position until completion of the prescribed tour of duty.
Section 5(b) provides a transitional schedule during the first four (4) calendar years of the decree’s effectivity: personnel who would otherwise be compulsorily retired under Section 1(b) of Republic Act No. 340, as amended, are instead retired under this decree when they complete an additional period of service of one (1), two (2), three (3), and four (4) years, respectively.
Section 6 treats an officer or enlisted man who has at least twenty (20) years of accumulated satisfactory active service and dies in line of duty as retired for survivorship benefits under the decree.
Section 7 mandates compulsory retirement for an officer or enlisted man with at least twenty (20) years of active service who incurs total permanent physical disability in line of duty.
Section 8 allows an officer or enlisted man with at least twenty (20) years of active service who incurs physical disability in line of duty other than total permanent to be retired at his option.
Section 9 provides that retirement is in the grade next higher than the permanent grade last held, except for officers in the permanent grade of Colonel/Captain (PN) or higher.

Separation: When It Occurs

Section 10 provides that effective six (6) years after approval of the decree, officers in permanent grades of Captain, Major, and Lieutenant Colonel (or equivalents) shall be separated under existing laws upon completing five (5), six (6), and seven (7) years of active commissioned service-in-grade, respectively, or upon attaining thirty-three (33), thirty-nine (39), and forty-six (46) years of age, respectively—whichever is later.
Section 10 authorizes the President to lengthen active service-in-grade to maintain the desirable officer rank structure and/or enhance progressive professional development of the officer corps.
Section 10 further mandates that an officer with at least twenty (20) years of active service shall be retired in the grade next higher than the permanent grade he holds.
Section 11 requires separation of an officer found by the AFP Efficiency and Separation Board not fit for retention due to substandard performance, low potentiality, doubtful integrity, and/or acts inconsistent with the best interest of the service, in the permanent grade he holds, subject to President approval.
Section 12 requires separation of:
- an officer in the grade of Second Lieutenant/Ensign (PN) who is deferred once, or
- an officer in the grade above that of Second Lieutenant/Ensign (PN) but below Colonel/Captain (PN) who is deferred twice for promotion to the same next higher grade,
- in the permanent grade he holds on the first day of the third month after the President approves promotions recommended by the Selection Board that recommended the applicable deferment.
Section 13 treats an officer or enlisted man with less than twenty (20) years of active service who dies in line of duty or dies due to a wound, injury or illness contracted in line of duty as separated from the service in the next higher grade for survivorship benefits.
Section 14 provides that an officer or enlisted man with less than twenty (20) years of active service who incurs total in permanent physical disability in line of duty shall be separated in the next higher grade than the permanent grade he holds, except as provided in Section 9.
Section 15 provides that an officer or enlisted man who incurs physical disability other than total permanent in line of duty before completion of twenty (20) years of active service may be separated at his option in the grade next higher than the permanent grade he holds, except as provided in Section 9.
Section 16 allows an officer to resign his commission, and he shall be separated upon acceptance by the President.

Retirement and Separation Benefits

Section 17 grants an officer or enlisted man retired under the decree the option to receive either:
- a gratuity equivalent to one (1) month of base and longevity pay of the grade next higher than the permanent grade last held for every year of service, payable in one (1) lump sum, or
- monthly retirement pay equal to two and one-half percent (2 1/2%) for each year of active service, not exceeding eighty-five percent (85%) of the monthly base and longevity pay of the grade next higher than the permanent grade last held.
Section 17 provides that an officer retired under Section 11 or 12 receives benefits computed based on the base and longevity pay of the permanent grade last held.
Section 17 requires that retirement pay is subject to adjustment on the prevailing scale of base pay of military personnel in active service.
Section 17 allows the retiree, at his option, to receive in advance and in lump sum his annual retirement pay for the first three (3) years, after which annual retirement pay is received as it accrues in equal monthly installments.
Section 17 states that if the retiree dies within the three-year period following retirement and is survived by beneficiaries defined in the decree, beneficiaries receive derivative benefits starting the first month after the aforecited three-year period.
Section 18 provides that survivors of an officer or enlisted man retired under Section 4, 5, 8 or 10 or an officer with at least twenty (20) years of service separated under Section 11 or 12 are entitled to a monthly annuity equivalent to seventy-five percent (75%) of the officer’s monthly retirement pay, divided among them in equal shares with the right of accretion.
Section 19 provides that an officer or enlisted man separated under Section 14 receives a monthly life annuity equal to fifty percentum (50%) of the base and longevity pay computed on the basis of the separation grade; it further provides that the monthly annuity is not less than PHP 200.00.
Section 20 provides that an officer with less than twenty (20) years of accumulated active service separated under Section 10, 11, 12 or 16 receives separation pay equal to one month of base and longevity pay of the permanent grade he holds for every year of active service.
Section 21 provides that an officer or enlisted man with less than twenty (20) years of accumulated active service separated under Section 15 receives separation pay equal to one month of base and longevity pay of his separation grade for every year of active service; for an officer in Colonel/Captain (PN) and higher, the separation grade basis is in the grade next higher than his separation grade.
Section 22 provides that survivors of an officer or enlisted man retired under Section 6 or 7 or separated under Section 13 or 14 receive a monthly annuity equivalent to fifty percentum (50%) of base and longevity pay based on the separation grade, divided in equal shares with the right of accretion; for survivors of an officer in Colonel/Captain (PN) and higher, the basis is the grade next higher than the separation grade.
Section 23 requires that an officer or enlisted man retired under Section 7 or separated under Section 14 receives, in addition to benefits under Section 17 or Section 19, a monthly disability pension of PHP 200.00.
Section 24 provides that an officer or enlisted man retired under Section 8 or separated under Section 15 for disability proximately resulting from wounds or injuries received or sickness or disease incurred in line of duty receives, in addition to benefits under Section 17 or 21 (as the case may be), a disability pension fixed as follows:
- 25% rated disability: PHP 50.00 per month
- 50% rated disability: PHP 100.00 per month
- 60% rated disability: PHP 120.00 per month
- 70% rated disability: PHP 140.00 per month
- 80% rated disability: PHP 160.00 per month
- 90% rated disability: PHP 180.00 per month
- 100% rated disability: PHP 200.00 per month
Section 17 provides a rule preventing any construction that authorizes adjustment of pay or payment of differential in retirement pay to officers and enlisted men already retired before the decree, due to increases in salary during recall to active duty.

Benefits: Survivors, Disability, and Key Terms

Section 25 defines “Total permanent physical disability” as:
- anatomical loss or permanent loss of use of both hands, both feet, both eyes, both ears, or any combination, or
- loss of mental faculties,
- with degree determined by a medical board created for the purpose.
Section 25 defines “Survivors” as:
- the surviving spouse if married prior to retirement/separation and not legally separated by judicial decree on grounds attributable to the spouse, with benefits terminating upon re-marriage;
- surviving children born of a marriage contracted prior to retirement/separation, and children adopted or acknowledged while the deceased parent was still on active military service, with benefits terminating at attainment of twenty-one (21) years of age or marriage;
- in default, surviving legitimate, adopted or acknowledged natural children who have reached twenty-one (21) years, or in their absence the surviving parent(s), or in their absence the surviving unmarried brothers and sisters.
Section 25 defines “Line of duty” as death, illness, or injury not due to misconduct, willful failure, intemperate use of drugs or alcoholic liquor, or vicious or immoral habits.
Section 25 defines “A year of active service” as twelve (12) months.

Contributions, Retired List, Recall, and Privileges

Section 26 requires retired military personnel receiving monthly pension to continue contributing to the AFP Retirement and Separation Benefit System equal to four percent (4%) of the base and longevity pay of the last permanent grade held before retirement.
Section 26 limits the period of required contributions to a duration equivalent to the length of service rendered as a civilian official or employee of the Philippine Government credited for retirement purposes during which the person did not contribute from the date Presidential Decree No. 361 took effect.
Section 26 provides that the contribution is deducted from monthly retirement pay.
Section 27 requires that military personnel retired under Sections 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12 are carried in the retired list of the AFP.
Section 27 provides that if a retiree loses Filipino citizenship, his name is removed from the retired list and retirement benefits terminate upon that loss.
Section 28 makes retired personnel subject to the Articles of War and recallable to active duty in the permanent grade he last held, by the President at any time.
Section 28 provides that refusal to perform recalled duty is a ground for court-martial action under Article 97 of the Articles of War and subsequent termination of payments of benefits as determined by the court.
Section 29 provides that upon call to active duty, a retiree receives pay and allowances of the permanent grade last held and remains in the retired list and eligible for promotion in the retired list while active; the retiree is promoted to the next higher grade under pertinent rules and regulations.
Section 30 extends to retired or separated military personnel under Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 or 15 and their dependents the same privileges as military personnel on active duty and their dependents, with the Minister of National Defense prescribing implementing rules.

Protection of Benefits and Accrual Rule

Section 31 makes benefits authorized under the decree generally exempt from attachment, garnishment, levy, execution, and any tax whatsoever, and bars assignment, cession, or conveyance to any third person.
Section 31 allows withholding of not more than fifty percent (50%) of the pension gratuity or other payment due to a retired or separated officer or enlisted man or his survivors to settle unsettled money/property accountabilities incurred during active service.
Section 32 provides that benefits accrue to military personnel separated by court martial action, except when non-entitlement is expressly adjudged by the military court and approved by the approving authority.
Section 33 prevents reduction of retirement and separation pay, gratuity, or other monetary benefits that a person is already receiving or is entitled to under existing law.

Fraud, Penalties, and Disqualification

Section 34 imposes criminal and disciplinary consequences on any person found to have participated directly or indirectly in the commission of fraud, falsification, misrepresentation of facts, collusion, or any similar anomaly in issuance of any certificate or document for purposes connected with the decree.
Section 34 provides that upon conviction, the offender is punished by:
- a fine of not less than the amount defrauded but not more than threefold such amount, and/or
- imprisonment of not less than six (6) months and one (1) day to six (6) years,
- and perpetual disqualification from holding public office and from practising any profession or calling licensed by the government.

Repeal and Consistency Rules

Section 35 repeals or modifies inconsistent laws, rules, and regulations, except those necessary to give effect to the decree and preserve rights of retired or separated military personnel.